Electronics Lab Safety

1
Electronics Lab Safety

• CVHS Electronics 1

2
Electricity You

• Your body operates on electrical impulses from
  your brain that travel along your nerves.
• It does not take much electrical energy to
  interrupt these electrical messages
• What do you think would happen to you if the
  messages from your brain to your heart/ lungs are
  interrupted?

3
How much electricity does it take to hurt you?

• 100 milliamps (0.1 amps) of current is more than
  enough
  to kill you.

4
How much electricity is in the wall?

• Most common electrical appliances operate on 120
  VAC or 240 VAC
• The circuits these appliances operate on can
  range from 15 to 50 amps depending on the fuses/
  circuit breakers they are
  wired to
• These protective devices are not
  designed to protect you, but
  rather
  protect the electrical system in your home

5
GFCI

• GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) breakers
  and outlets are designed to protect you in the
  case of severe/ fatal electrocution by sensing
  any current not traveling through the hot or
  neutral wires

6
How do you avoid injury?

• Generally, electricity takes the easiest path to
  ground
• One way to protect yourself is to take steps to
  insulate yourself from ground
• Rubber soled shoes
• Avoid damp areas
• Always power down
• Work with one hand

7
Using lab equipment

• Soldering
• Wear safety glasses
• Always place soldering iron in holder
• Always solder over a workbench
• Always treat iron as hot
• Unplug with 5 to 10 minutes left in class
• NO SOLDER BALLS
• Using power equipment
• Wear safety glasses
• Follow all specific safety rules posted on wall

8
General lab safety rules

• Never plug in an electronics project without
  first asking the instructor
• Never work on electronics equipment with wet
  hands/ in wet areas
• Never work on energized electronics equipment
  with both hands
• If you were not trained how/ asked to use it in
  this class, dont touch it
• Always wear safety goggles when doing the
  following operations
• Soldering
• Using any power equipment on the side workbench
  or cordless drills
• Working with capacitors